Those Eyes That Burn
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Set after "Hands". Christine contemplates Erik's eyes and it does not turn out how she might have wished. Short li'll thing. Please R


**Those Eyes That Burn

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We'd been singing and I hadn't realized just how close I had moved to him. It happened often enough when I heard his voice. It pulled me to him, lulled me into a trance that I couldn't escape. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to. Now I found myself with no real recollection of how I had sat upon the edge of the bench, my back turned to the organ, and my voice reaching heights I didn't know it could reach.

Erik didn't notice my movements either, obviously, from his reaction when the song ended. He looked startled as my eyes fluttered open and we were only inches away from each other's faces, our breath on each other's faces and a blush creeping to my cheeks.

I found myself staring into his eyes. Those mismatched eyes that I'd taken heed to not look into too long. I knew they would turn out like his voice: captivating. I had been right.

They were unlike anything I had ever seen. His left eye, more visible without being masked, was blue with only a tinge of gold outlining it. It wasn't the blue of Raoul's eyes. No, Raoul's eyes were blue like the sky, promising the freedom and light that sparkled within them. Erik's, on the other hand, was dark like the depths of the night.

His other eye, the one that a person might have to get just as close as we were to see well, was gold. I had never seen a person with a fully gold eye, or even eyes, for that matter. I had seen flecks of gold in another dancer's green eyes once. I had thought them very lovely. Now staring at Erik's eye it seemed so appropriate that the eye that was hidden behind that mask of his was something that was out of the usual. Like nothing I had seen before.

He cleared his throat, causing me to blush deeper and pull back away from him. He looked as if he were holding back from something, though I knew not what. _To kiss you? _my mind – or perhaps my heart? – taunted me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "You're eyes… they're just…"

He chuckled at this. "First my hands and now my eyes?" he mumbled, mischief replacing the look that I could not place. As my face grew entirely red he softened his mocking expression and I watched him lift one of his beautiful hands up to touch my cheek. I closed my eyes, waiting for the caress. It never came and by the time I opened my eyes, Erik was moving away from me. I watched him, feeling more than a little disappointed by his lack of action. "I'm sorry, my dear," he said with his back turned towards me. I could not see his face and I longed to horribly. "I should not…"

"Should not what?" I murmured very quietly. My mouth, that horrible mouth of mine that speaks without my asking it to, moved before I was ready. "Touch me?"

He froze, going completely rigid.

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "I'm so sorry… I should never have said… I'm sorry." He turned, eyes wide and I continued on. "You're the perfect gentleman, Erik. I shouldn't say anything against that."

"Against it?" he rasped, his voice suddenly betraying him for the first time that I'd ever seen. When I could not find words - my voice really is against me at times – he moved closer again. "Would you have this skeleton's hand upon your flawless face?" he growled, causing me to shrink back.

Erik was intimidating. He used it often against the managers, against the staff, against everyone. His voice carried everywhere and then some and his eyes glowed when he was angry. Now he loomed over me, looking more than a little ominous, and I surprised myself when a truthful answer. "Yes." It was no more than a breath, but he heard it.

He stared at me for what seemed like eternity before reaching a thin hand out towards my face, gently brushing it. His fingers were indeed cool to the touch, but not unpleasently so.I felt a shiver rush through my body and he pulled away suddenly. "See?" he asked with an 'I – told – you – so' sound to his voice. "Cold and unfeeling, isn't it?" As soon as the scornful words had left his lips, he turned and stormed out of the room, leaving me alone.

"No," I breathed to an empty place in which he had stood. "Not at all."

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A/N: there's a line in my one-shot "Hands" that says, "Those eyes were a whole other matter I was not ready to let my mind wander on." Well, Christine lets her mind wander in this one! Yay for Christine! Hehe… Please R&R

TS


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